Visitors at the Raj Bhavan garden during a public flower show. Picture by manik Bose

Ranchi, Nov. 5: Wish to see Jawaharlal Nehru, Rajendra Prasad and Lal Bahadur Shastri? Visit the Raj Bhavan garden next January. All our former presidents and prime ministers will be greeting the visitors in the form of rose buds there when the garden will be thrown open for public visits.

The horticulturists and the academics of Birsa Agriculture University are these days busy deciding the nomenclature of the rose saplings. They have selected different species to be named after past leaders of the Nation.

Spread across 52-acres of land, the garden is a treat for nature lovers during the winters. Its six sections Ashok Bagan, Akbar Udyan, Amrud Bagan, Birsa Munda green house and Murti garden are spruced up and a variety of seasonal flowers, ornamental flowers, and roses give it a romantic look.

The roses grown here had impressed Indira Gandhi so much that she had said: “They stand next only to those grown in Switzerland.”

Recalling the words of Indira who had come here to participate in a rose show, the garden superintendent of Raj Bhawan, Md Abdus Salam said many species grown here were the contribution of former governor of Bihar A.R. Antuley. “He would bring the saplings in a thermos flask when ever he visited a foreign country,” said Salam.

“This year, we are preparing new rose beds. The seasonal flowers will include astar, dog flower, nemesia, sweet William, sweet Sultan. We are preparing 100 beds for seasonal flowers. However, the most attractive will be the Lily pond, which was built during British time in 1833. The beds for 75-80 varieties of ornamental flowers are also being prepared. We have started the pruning of the different beds which would take almost 45 days to bloom,” Salam said adding, governor Syed Sibtey likes flowers and takes keen interest in developing the garden further.

“My favourite is the hybrid yellow and red rose which has been named after the social reformer Raja Ram Mohan Roy,” he added.

Garden superintendent Abdus Salam. Picture by manik Bose

“The rare varieties of rose that are grown on the premises of Governor house are Tajmahal, Peter Franklin, Golden Giant, Sweet harmony shower and double delight,” he said.

“To maintain varieties of roses special manure like cowdung, vermi compost and mustard cake are used. We do not use any type of chemical fertilisers. I have to spend twelve hours a day for the proper maintenance of the roses. Likewise the quality of the soil is laterite and acidic which is ideal for the growth of roses. Besides there is no water logging,”added Salam.

Among the several contributors to the garden the most significant one is the Heavy Engineering Corporation which converted the barren land into a garden in 1981 on the instructions of the then governor of Bihar A.R. Antuley, recalled D.K. Bose, a retired horticulturist of HEC.

“Beofre that, it was grazing ground for the buffaloes. Late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had visited Raj Bhavan in 1984 when she had come to participate in All India in Rose show,” Bose said.